India’s Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has started civil works at the 660MW power unit for the Sagardighi supercritical thermal power project in West Bengal, India.
The move follows the issuance of ‘Notice To Proceed’ by developer West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) to BHEL.
BHEL said it has already completed pre-engineering activities for the project, located at Manigram village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
The Sagardighi project, which currently comprises four operational units of a combined capacity of 1,600MW, has been in operations since 2008. The fourth unit entered into operations in 2017.
Last year, the Indian government-owned power generation equipment manufacturer had won an INR35bn ($466.6m) contract for designing, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of the Main Plant Turnkey Package for the fifth unit of the power plant.
The Main Plant Turnkey Package comprises supercritical boiler and turbine generator, including auxiliaries, electricals, controls & instrumentation, switchyard, flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) and selective catalytic reduction(SCR) systems, coal handling plant and ash handling plant.
BHEL plans to manufacture the key equipment for the project at its facilities in Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Thirumayam and Bengaluru.
The company’s Power Sector – Eastern Region division will oversee the construction and installation activities of the project.
Featuring supercritical technology, the unit 5 of the Sagardighi thermal power project is expected to reduce fuel consumption by utilising high-efficiency equipment operating at higher operating parameters.
BHEL said that the new unit’s emission control equipment like FGD and SCR systems allows it to capture SOx and NOx and other pollutants to meet the revised emission norms notified by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.